This is the season of spring. A time when the old leaves fall and the new leaves are born. This immense profoundness of nature teaches us the greatest lessons of existence. It is miraculous how nature is unfolding its enigmatic lessons with every new season. In this season of transformation it is also true that this nation is going through a sense of despair because of the massive attack on public universities. Over the past couple of months the site of major national debate has become the university space that has been transformed into a contested terrain for the expression of political motivations and a reason to begin the process of political revolution. In times dominated by global capitalism and the growth of private universities and institutions for technical knowledge, the declining condition of universities that thrive on research and intellectual contributions is not surprising. It is a paradox that the contemporary political culture does not give education a status beyond statistics and numbers, it does not feel the need to penetrate into the deeper philosophical foundations of education and cultivate learning centers that create complete human beings before technical specialists. There is a diverse range of conflicts and tensions that underline our education and society. Students, teachers, academicians and concerned people throughout the country have come together to fight against such attacks on public universities and have struggled to protect the ethos of democratization, the ideas of social emancipation, and the culture of rational debate and creation of knowledge and equality in our society. It is indeed a miracale that in this moment of struggle and protest we have not lost our imagination. It is at this moment that a beautiful confluence can be seen between Gandhi and Paulo Freire. For both of them, the struggle against oppression is both outside and inside. We must also acknowledge that society can be liberated only when the oppressed and the oppressor come together in a mutual struggle. The resistance that we witness all around us today must also be united with the journey of inner transformation. What else is education after all? The New Leam magazine is indeed a refreshing voice amidst these moments of political crisis. It invites its caravan of readers to undertake a collective journey of rethinking the interrelated domains of education, politics and culture. And we should not forget that the wind of spring is rebellious, and will bring to life many new leaves. We are on this important journey which can never reach its destination without the love and support of all our readers. It is with this hope and prayer in our hearts that we present before you the March issue. Like each issue in the past, this issue has a wide diversity of articles that invoke your imagination and invite you to go on a thought provoking inner journey. We hope that you would enjoy every bit of this issue.
– Vikash Sharma
